Disappeared News

Sunday, August 30, 2015

I noticed on Friday that every time Star-Advertiser reporter Dan Nakaso plugs Rep. Tom Brower by mentioning him in a (usually page-one) story on homelessness, I end up mentioning Brower as well. See—I’ve done it twice already just now.

I’m not on Rep. B’s campaign staff, and as far as I know, neither is Nakaso. So it’s curious why this guy’s name is mentioned each time. And of course, the editors must be aware of this, I’m sure they read their own newspaper. Though sometimes I wonder… nevermind.

So on Friday I determined to refer to this legislator using only the “B-word.” I thought also that it might be fun to keep score. I put together a little html scorecard which will appear at the top of the page here for a while.

Jon Stewart was fond of pointing out how Fox News anchors repeated the same word or phrase over and over again throughout the day. It was too common to be coincidence, it had to be predetermined or ordered by management. Could that be the case with Nakaso’s insertion of the B-word in so many articles that have nothing at all to do with Rep. B? Repeating what happened to Rep. B reinforces the now-ideological slant that the Kakaako homeless encampment is dangerous so it must be obliterated as soon as possible.

We’ll see. The box is not a particularly attractive thing, so I’ll take it off after awhile, or if Nakaso breaks his seeming addiction. Or if he ultimately takes a job on Rep. B’s campaign staff.